E3 2016: Wild Guns: Reloaded (Hands-on)

If you had told me a 22-year-old SNES game was getting a revival of sorts this year, I'd have called you crazy. But here we are, Natsume is bringing back Wild Guns to the Playstation 4 later this fall. Wild Guns: Reloaded will take players back to the steampunk world inhabited by Clint and Annie, along with two new characters. I was able to get through the E3 demo, and awash in nostalgia, I felt like I was back in my room in fourth grade, shooting down robots and dastardly varmints.

If you remember the classic vertical levels of Contra, that's the closest thing you can compare to Wild Guns: Reloaded. Players move left or right on a plane, and using the on screen cursor to target enemies, must mow down wave after wave of enemies. Power-ups and super moves will help clear the screen of enemies, and take down some massive bosses, the first of which was there to block me from completing the demo.

The game world is also highly destructible, and features all of the classic stages of the original game along with some new stages to go with the new characters that have been added. There's also new bosses to stand in your way as well. The demo featured three areas that felt like they had that classic shooting gallery feel of the original game, along with that old-school difficulty.

Wild Guns: Reloaded will be released as a digital download, though there are hopes that there can be a physical release as well. Whether or not that happens remains to be seen, but for those that remember this SNES trailblazer, the wait is going to be agonizing, as this one is just as enjoyable as the original.